Port Arthur Memories Revisited

Tune in or drop by on Sunday October 21 as Chris Wisbey invites locals to reminisce about the three decades when Port Arthur was known as Carnarvon and picnics, camping and gardening shaped the landscape where convicts had once toiled.

The two day event highlights life in Port Arthur after the penitentiary was closed in 1877. During the post convict era, the settlement of Port Arthur struggled to distance itself from its dark beginnings. The name was changed to Carnarvon, the land was auctioned off and the buildings left to decay.

The site was saved by an influx of curious visitors arriving by steamship to see the ruins of the notorious penal colony. These early Victorian vacationers rejuvenated the town and led to the reinstatement of the town's original name 'Port Arthur' in 1927.

Kicking off at 12pm on Saturday, the community event includes guided house tours, exhibition, the Tasmanian Police Pipe band and a sheep dog trial. The weekend culminates on Sunday with a cruise on the bay.